Tap and Die Organization Using Plano Half Height ProLatch StowAway Utility Boxes

I've had an inexpensive tap and die set forever. I bought it from Canadian Tire, came in a blue metal case - and I'm sure there's hundreds of thousands of these out in garages everywhere. Mine got to the point where the plastic organizer started coming apart, and, there is no space for expansion when you purchase new taps and dies.

The completed reorganization - Taps and Dies, One box for Metric, One box for Standard, Plano ProLatch StowAway

I don't use these regularly enough to really do much about it, until I got into a turbo replacement project on my daily driver and had quite a few threads to clean up. I was also annoyed that the metric and standard taps and dies were mixed together, it just slowed things down when trying to find the right tap or die quickly. So - a new project was born.

Mastercraft Tap and Die Set - The plastic organizer had reached end-of-life

I did a bit of research, and the idea of a machinists tool chest was quickly ruled out - I don't use these very often, and I want the storage to be as space efficient as possible. I organize all my hardware in Plano Prolatch storage boxes - super convenient, and I went to see if I could find something suitable for the taps and dies. I found that Plano makes a half height Prolatch - the 2-3601 with 21 adjustable compartments. Here's how it went.

Plano ProLatch StowAway 2-3601 Utility Box 

 This was quick and easy. Separate metric from standard, and organize taps and dies from large to small - outer corners towards the center. I double stacked dies - this works well because you can pair the fine and coarse threaded dies of the same size.

Metric Taps and Dies, with enough space left over for the tap holders, in the Plano 2-3601 ProLatch StowAway

I know that taps shouldn't be stored where the tap cutting surfaces can rub against other taps - I'll have to look into sleeves that I can use to protect the thread cutting surfaces a bit better, but I don't think this should be a major issue for me. If these were rattling around the back of a service truck, it would be a different story.

Both sets - labelled. Plano ProLatch StowAway 2-3601

I've bought a few more of these Plano boxes - they're quite space efficient, and will fit in my hardware rack nicely. Here's a photo of how I store all my hardware in the regular height ProLatch StowAway utility boxes:

Plano ProLatch StowAway utility boxes arranged in Ikea Kitchen Wall Cabinets - Good Fit

Sources and Links

I hope you found this post useful. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below. I answer all questions. If you're interested, you can help support this site by using the following links to Amazon.com in the United States.

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Upgrading my cordless tool charging station for my new Dewalt 20V tools

Back in March 2015, I converted one of my Ikea garage cabinets into a cordless tool charging station for my 18V Ryobi and Dewalt tools. It's been a really useful addition to my home shop - very convenient always knowing where to find the charger and batteries, and not having the chargers out on work surfaces in the way.

I started finding that my Dewalt 18V batteries were losing their runtime, and I was looking at reinvesting in new batteries. I had a look at my workflow and my mix of tools, and ultimately decided I was going to go fully cordless - get cordless versions of my reciprocating saw, jigsaw, circular saw, die grinder, 1/2 impact and upgrade my cordless drills, drivers and yard maintenance equipment all to a single tool family. I settled on the Dewalt 20V system for its variety, power, design and common availability. I may write on this whole experience in another post.

One of the big drivers was to get away from having two tool families - so that I could have a single common set of batteries to manage. I wanted to have a more efficient, simple workflow.

The completed charging station upgrade

And - here's where I started with the previous version - with the two tool families - Dewalt 18V and Ryobi 18V:

The original Dewalt and Ryobi 18V system - lots of batteries to manage

One of the motivations for this whole upgrade was to reduce the number of batteries to manage in the shop, and to make the storage space a bit more efficient. I search the interweb for a rack to store the new Dewalt 20V batteries, and I found these StealthMounts on eBay - these are moulded in the UK so I decided to purchase a 5 pack and try them out.

Stealth Mounts installed on the underside of the upper shelf. Note the orientation with the battery gauge to the front.

When I arranged the chargers vs. the StealthMounts - I was careful to space them so that there would be lots of space to pull the batteries out from the StealthMounts towards the rear - without interfering with batteries in the chargers. I had to move the chargers lower on my mounting board, and install the StealthMounts right near the front of the cabinet. Results - lots of space to move batteries around without interference.

20V charging action - with the batteries stowed in the Stealth Mounts - lots of space for the Vacuum, drill, driver and flashlight

Detail of the StealthMount. These are nicely moulded, generous clearances with the batteries so that the batteries clip on and off quite easily, yet the batteries are held securely using the battery locking tab. They can be used as a belt carrier for batteries as well.

The Stealth Mount

Conclusion

So - I've been using this new setup for about 6 weeks - and I'm really happy with the results. It was a great move to consolidate on one tool family, all new batteries with larger capacity / longer runtime is a great upgrade (especially for the yard maintenance equipment) and the StealthMounts are a really nice addition. All good here.

Sources and Links

I hope you found this post useful. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below. I answer all questions. If you're interested, you can help support this site by using the following link to Stealthmounts available here on eBay. 

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Ikea Kitchen Cabinets for Garage Organization - Vertical Wall Cabinet for Skis and Thule Racks

One of the things that was sorely lacking in the new house was any form of garage organization - just a huge, empty, 40 x 18 x 10 foot box.

Next to no organization - piles of boxes and a big open mess.

I did a bunch of research, and looked at the garage storage systems in the big box home improvement stores. My impression of the systems offerred, both in metal and in melamine - was typically of mediocre quality, and a lack of flexibility. Typically, only one or two base cabinets and tall cabinets were offerred, so getting a good fit with my space would be difficult or impossible.

Then I went to Ikea and checked out the Akurum kitchen cabinet system. Here - lots of choice in base cabinets, wall cabinets and tall cabinets. Lots of widths, height, door and drawer combinations. In essence - exactly what I was looking for - full flexibility to implement a storage design taking into account my space available. (Note - I understand that the Ikea Akurum system will be replaced in 2015 by a new kitchen cabinet system - Sektion - but that shouldn't change the principles of implementing a similar solution in your garage).

Here's my post on the Akurum cabinet installation. 

Here's a photo of the completed tall cabinet - loaded with racks and gear:

Completed Cabinet Installation - Perfect for Skis, Hockey Sticks, Thule Rack Bars

Empty wall - ready for cabinets.... I had been wondering what I could do with this space between the mandoor and garage door.

Bare corner ready for cabinet installation. I had to move an alarm motion sensor up to clear the cabinet installation. 

In order to fit the cabinet - it was a tight squeeze - I had to use the router to remove some material from one side of the cabinet - to clear the ceramic tile installed on the bottom 2 feet of the wall in my installation. Note the plastic levelling feet used - makes installation a breeze.

A router removed some material from the side surface of the
 cabinet to clear my ceramic tile on the lower part of my garage walls. 

A wall mounted plywood strip compensates for the thickness of the ceramic tile on the wall at the bottom. The metal hanging bracket ensures a solid installation - very simple and straighforward to hang the cabinet on the wall.

Plywood spacer and wall bracket for securing the top of the cabinet. You can also see the alarm sensor wire has been extended. 

Adding boxes to the initial wall cabinet. Levelling is quick and easy with the plastic cabinet feet.

Box installed, waiting for cabinet doors

Once all the wall cabinets are installed, its time for some doors and drawers. I went for the soft close hinges and drawer slides - makes for a polished installation. I also installed a second cabinet door with extra height to hide items placed on top of the cabinet. This space is perfect for wheel holders.

Top door - extra height to help hide items placed on top of the cabinet.

Door installation - checking the height of the shelf with my longest set of skis.

One tip for making the whole process go quicker - use an air powered trim nailer - brad nailer for tacking the back panels of the cabinets to the cabinet frames - this really speeds up the slowest part of the whole operation.

I also added some velcro ties to help store poles and accessories.

Velcro tie - held down with a wood screw and washer.

Pefect for holding ski poles.

Completed installation with the door closed. 

After about 15 months - this setup is still rock solid and very practical. I can't imaging working without it now.

Final touch - was installing a second garage door remote on the side of the cabinet for convenience. I ran all the wires in surface mount wiring channels - to hide the wires and neaten the installation.

Garage Door Control installed on the side of the cabinet

Door sensor installed - wiring channels hide bare wires.

Organization of the Thule Rack Parts

Conclusion

This was a super upgrade. When ever I need to rack up the car - my racks are right near the garage door - no running around and digging up rack components. The skis are also right by the garage door - just open the garage door - throw the skis in the car - and off to the hill. Excellent upgrade and time saver, helps the garage look neat. 

Sources and Links

I hope you found this post useful. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below. I answer all questions. If you're interested, you can help support this site by using the following links to Amazon.com in the United States. Cabinets are available at Ikea - in person or online.

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Delta Vertical Wall Mount Bike Rack - from Lee Valley Tools

It's been a while since my last post - this spring has been exceptionally busy with the basement insulation project, basement floor slab crack repairs and concrete floor painting, the variable speed pool pump motor upgrade, and the 2" pool plumbing upgrade. I still have to write about the pool projects, but first I wanted to show some photos from my bike rack upgrade in the garage.

The completed installation - adult bikes mounted vertically on the wall - kids bikes parked underneath. Very space efficient, and easy for the kids.

The new house had a series of hooks on the ceiling - 10' off the floor, and over the railing next to the stairs to the basement. To lift a bike up or down from a hook, you would have to get close to the railing, and stretch to get the front or rear wheel on or off the hook on the ceiling - a real task. The bicycles would pivot on the hooks, and bang into each other - pretty frustrating at times. I wanted a solution that would keep the bikes off the floor - we need all the floor space to park 2 cars at times, and help keep the space neat.

The previous storage rack - bikes would swing around, handlebars would hook, not ideal.

I did a bit of research into vertical wall mount bike racks - there are some interesting designs - then I found these at Lee Valley Tools. The great thing about Lee Valley Tools - reasonable prices ($21 each), quick and inexpensive shipping (frequent free shipping promotions) and quick delivery. So - I ordered six and they arrived in 2 days.

Delta Cycles Vertical Bike Rack with Tire Tray

If you look at other vendors - sometimes they will sell the rack and the tire tray separately - the Lee Valley Tools packaging includes both for one price.

Mounting the racks was simple - I found my wall studs were spaced 16" - and decided to lay out all four racks for the adult bikes - 2 road bikes, 2 mountain bikes - on 16" centers with staggered heights so the handlebars wouldn't interfere with each other. 

First bike installed. I used a Laser Level to get the top and bottom trays vertically aligned. 

Here's a photo of all 4 bikes installed - 16" centers. This turned out to be perfect spacing. 12" spacing would not have been enough (although it might have worked if you need a very tight installation).

4 bikes - 16" centers

The bike hooks are solid, support the bikes well. I'm careful when installing the bikes on the hooks to let the weight down slowly on the hook, to make sure I don't over stress the wheel rim. The upper rack installs with two 1 1/2" screws provided with the kit. These screws are a bit too short if you're installing on a stud wall with drywall - you'll need longer hardware for a solid installation.

The supplied hardware is too short for drywalled walls - these screws are only suitable for mounting directly to wood studs.

Delta Bike Rack

And here's a photo of the bottom tray. The bottom tray mounts with self adhesive tape - no screws required although screw holes are provided.

Note the vintage green Michelin Wildgripper Sprint S tires - Kevlar beads, super light, and now getting very old and brittle. Time for new tires.....

In summary - good quality racks, very good price, simple installation, clean look when storing bikes - very satisfied with this system.

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Cordless Tool Charging Station in Ikea Wall Cabinet

Part of the garage organization project included setting up a charging station for cordless tool batteries. I wanted a central place where I could install my chargers, and always have a few batteries charged and ready to go. I wanted the charging station to be hidden from view, and easy to keep organized but out of sight.

I set up  an extension cord from the closest outlet behind my Ikea cabinets to a convenient wall cabinet, and then installed a 3/8" plywood backboard to simplify the installation of the chargers. A coat of white paint helps keep the installation neat.

Plywood backboard installed with four small angle brackets. Note that the shelves are actually straight - the distortion is from the camera lens.

Next step was to install the chargers. I've standardized on two systems - 18V dewalt for most common handyman tools, and Ryobi 18V for my yard tools - cordless lawn trimmer, cordless hedge trimmer and cordless blower (I'm a pretty big fan of these three tools).

Dewalt charger on the left, Ryobi charger on the right. Mounting on the back wall of the cabinet maximizes space in the cabinet for batteries and tools, and helps keep things organized.

Dewalt and Ryobi chargers installed on the backboard. 

And finally, in front of the chargers - lots of space for the Dewalt 18V cordless shop vac, impact and drill.

Cordless tools - out of the way, always ready to go. 

Pretty simple project, took about an hour in total. Painting the plywood took the most time.

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Garage Organization Using Ikea Kitchen Cabinets - Akurum or Sektion

One of the things that was sorely lacking in the new house was any form of garage organization - just a huge, empty, 40 x 18 x 10 foot box. Here's a photo of how things were organized following our move into the new house:

Next to no organization - piles of boxes and a big open mess.

I did a bunch of research, and looked at the garage storage systems in the big box home improvement stores. My impression of the systems offerred, both in metal and in melamine - was typically of mediocre quality, and a lack of flexibility. Typically, only one or two base cabinets and tall cabinets were offerred, so getting a good fit with my space would be difficult or impossible.

Then I went to Ikea and checked out the Akurum kitchen cabinet system. Here - lots of choice in base cabinets, wall cabinets and tall cabinets. Lots of widths, height, door and drawer combinations. In essence - exactly what I was looking for - full flexibility to implement a storage design taking into account my space available. (Note - I understand that the Ikea Akurum system will be replaced in 2015 by a new kitchen cabinet system - Sektion - but that shouldn't change the principles of implementing a similar solution in your garage). 

The first stage was to plan everything out. I'm a big fan of using Sketchup for 3D modelling projects around the house. It was quick and simple to draw my garage in sketchup, including the constraints such as the doors, stairs to the house, and two exposed beams that interrupt the flat wall surface on the side of the garage. I was able to find and upload pre-drawn models of the Akurum cabinet system, and of my motorcycle and table saw, directly from the Sketchup 3D warehouse. I had to work around my motorcycle, table saw, mini fridge, freezer and rolling toolbox. I wanted to have all my storage against one wall, to keep as much of the width free for the cars and space to work or do projects. 

Sketchup Plan of Ikea Akurum Storage System.

Once I was happy with the plan, and I reviewed the plan with my partner, it was time to get started. Due to the volume and weight of the cabinet system, I had Ikea deliver everything right to my house for a very reasonable delivery charge of about $40. The truck offloaded everything right into the garage:

Wall Cabinets, Tall Cabinets, Doors and Drawers

Then it was time to get started assembly. I had one cabinet that I had to cut and custom fit around a column protruding from the wall - so I started there.

Empty wall - ready for cabinets

I used two moving blankets to protect the cabinet components during assembly.

The first tall cabinet - fit around the wall column.

I decided to use the plastic levelling feed sold with the Akurum system to level all the cabinets. This system works really well. I made a simple jig to help me tilt the cabinets up vertically without damaging the plastic feet.

Jig for tilting wall cabinets vertical - you wouldn't need this if you had a second person to help you lift these vertically. 

Jig ties around the cabinet, allows you to lift the cabinet vertical with one person, without bearing on the plastic feet.

Plastic cabinet feet on the bottom of the wall cabinet, ready to tilt vertically. 

Once the first cabinet was raised into position, the remaining cabinets went quickly. I installed a thin strip of plywood along the cabinet tops to compensate for the offset of some ceramic tile on the wall at the bottom of the wall. This simplified getting the cabinets straight and solid against the wall.

Wall mounted plywood strip to compensate for the ceramic tile on the wall at the bottom. A laser level makes it quick and easy to install this straight and level.

Plywood strip - for seuring the top of the wall cabinets

Adding boxes to the initial wall cabinet. Levelling is quick and easy with the plastic cabinet feet.

Once all the wall cabinets are installed, its time for some doors and drawers. I went for the soft close hinges and drawer slides - makes for a polished installation.

Doors and Drawers almost complete

Once all the wall cabinets were complete, it was time to concentrate on the wall cabinets that would go above the table saw and deep freeze. I used the Ikea wall cabinet installation rail - which makes for a quick, easy, solid and straight installation.

For installing the wall cabinets - start by setting up the rail. The laser level simplifies placement and levelling

The first cabinet clips onto the rail using the installation hardware provided

Then two more cabinets clip on - the hardware for joining the boxes together is included with the boxes.

One tip for making the whole process go quicker - use an air powered trim nailer - brad nailer for tacking the back panels of the cabinets to the cabinet frames - this really speeds up the slowest part of the whole operation. Then the final touch - installing the door hardware:

This door hardware was selected from Lee Valley Tools - perfect for the garage

And now for the finished product - which ended up looking pretty well as planned in the Sketchup Model. The mini fridge fits perfectly under the wing of the table saw, and gives a nice work area when combined with the deep freeze. All in all - it took a solid weekend to get the installation to this point - 5 tall cabinets, 3 wall cabinets, 6 drawers, and 18 doors.

Cabinets installed

And the detail of the table saw - one sheet of slotboard finished in white matches the wall cabinets and ties everything together:

Slotboard to close out the installation.

Since this installation - I've made a series of improvements which I'll describe in future posts:

• LED strip lighting over the table saw and deep freeze
• 18V cordless tool charging station
• Wall Cabinets and Storage Shelving installed over the motorcycle and rolling toolbox
• Plano Hardware Storage in the Wall Cabinets

If you have any questions, feel free to post and I'll try to answer quickly. 

After about 15 months - this setup is still rock solid and very practical. I can't imaging working without it now.

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